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Friday, September 14, 2012

My Overtraining Balance

First things first, workouts!

Yesterday I took it very easy on my morning run. I only did four miles and kept all of them close to 8.30 minutes per mile. I was feeling tight and sluggish during the first two and a half miles, but finally started feeling better halfway through.

Another morning I was just thankful I got to get out and run!

I attended a noon CrossFit class since I taught in the evening and couldn't make my normal class. Noon classes are going to be my normal several days a week now because of my teaching schedule in the evenings. This makes me so sad because I love the class I normally attend at night and am going to miss my friends!

Anyways, I ran over to Crossfit when I got off work and by the time I got there, I realized how tired I was! Sometimes I feel tired and then once I get started I feel fine and kill the workout.

That didn't exactly happen today.

Our workout was a killer. We did "Christine" 3 rounds through, interval style.

I have mentioned only a million times that rowing is not my strong suit and it is safe to assume my legs were spent after the 5k row on Wednesday. Not only was it difficult to get through the rowing, but by the time I finished the dead lifts and box jumps, my legs were a wreck!

After the first round, I had to lower my dead lift weight from 15kg to 10kg and was able to pull it together for the last 2 rounds.

After killing myself the second round through, I let it slip to my coach that this was my third workout in the past 18 hours.

I've spoken to one of the runner-coaches at the gym before about my schedule. The most important thing was to listen to my body. If I am feeling worn out, take a step back.

Of course, this is easier said than done. There are always times I don't feel like going to a workout, but push myself because I know I'm just being lazy. It is sometimes difficult for me to tell when I am just a little tired or when I actually need a day off.

I enjoy running so much. It is just apart of who I am now and it's what I do every morning for my sanity. I can't letting it go at all. I also enjoy racing and pushing myself to get faster. There is so much joy for me in running.

I feel the same way about Crossfit. Not only do I love the workouts, but they have made my running so much better. I am a stronger and faster runner because of Crossfit's awesome insanity. On top of that, I have lots of friends at Crossfit and generally enjoy the social aspect of it.

Now that I am teaching fitness classes twice a week, my activity level has gone up even more and I need to make sure I'm paying attention to how my body is feeling since it is now my job.

Usually it takes my body about two weeks to adjust to a new schedule, so I'm just holding steady for now.

To keep healthy, I'm making sure to do as much recovery as I can. I'm drinking lots of these:

Water and green tea in my Phantom mug (duh).

I'm making sure when I do have downtime, I'm using it to rest my body. I find it very hard to sit still and not be running around checking things off my list of To-Do's, but I know its important to let my body recover as much as I can between activities. Mostly it's sitting here, being lazy and studying:

Hi couch-time!

If I'm not on the couch studying (or reading blogs, obviously), I'm out enjoying this extended Seattle summer we seem to be having. By enjoying, I simply mean layout in the park studying. Still a recovery activity!

I'm making an effort to take more of these, even though it's getting cooler out and the last thing I want to do is jump in ice-water:

Ice bath. Such a love-hate relationship.

And, of course, I roll-out and use my Marathon Stick as often as I can and am making sure to stretch every night before bed:

Foam roller and The Stick. Hurts so good.

I know other people struggle with overtraining (or just loving working out so much!) as well. It's all fun and games until someone gets injured! Any tips?

Anything you do to aid in your recovery that I may not have thought of?